A roadside bomb which exploded south of Baghdad left one American soldier dead on Wednesday as he was patrolling the region, according to US military reports. Also in Baghdad, the US military reported that soldiers face fierce gun battles with Sunni resistance fighters.
Similar clashes are expected as final results for the nation's divisive constitutional referendum are expected to be revealed in coming days.
In another incident, six Shiites who were lined up at a factory in Baghdad were killed in front of their fellow workers, police said. Gunmen also opened fire on a police checkpoint near the Hai Al-Adil highway in a western Baghdad, killing four policemen and wounding 11, said police Capt. Qassim Hassan.
Authorities decided to delay results of Saturday's elections to allow time to investigate suspicions regarding voter fraud resulting from an unusually high number of "yes" votes in certain regions, according to Reuters. On Wednesday, three election commission officials were shot dead on the outskirts of Baghdad, as they drove home after another round of counting ballots from, police said.
Meanwhile, a British soldier has been killed in a roadside bomb in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence confirmed on Wednesday. The man died from injuries sustained in the blast in Basra, Sky News reported.
Major Steven Melbourne, based in Basra, said: "A British soldier from the Multi-National Division South East died from the injuries sustained from a roadside blast at 11.23 local time last night. "The incident is under investigation."]
The latest death takes the number of British service personnel who have died in Iraq since March 2003 to 97.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
